A spin on the "Salem Witch Hunts", "The Drumhead" is a chilling tale of how one can become so possessed by paranoia that it causes you to lose your morals. The story was solid and flowing. It is especially frightning when Admiral Satie starts accusing Picard of sabatoging his own ship. Can you believe that!! A great episode and a good story. Watch it and see what you think of it.

It's as subtle as a sledgehammer, but it remains an important message show and one of my all-time favourites. As Q would later remark, "Jean-Luc, sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours." ^^

An obvious take on the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, but still a good episode. Firstly, there's clearly the sense that Satie had Picard thinking at several points. He clearly found her arguments compelling at first, then began to find them more and more appalling, while questioning his own behaviour on past missions. While this was happening, they were clearly turning down the subtlety until it's no more than a slap in the face. Then there's Satie herself, played convincingly by Jean Simmons, who has clearly lost touch with family and friends (and reality) in the pursuit of her supposed traitors, yet still retains enough composure to look reasonable to outsiders. She clearly sees that as a worthwhile sacrifice, but maybe having more stability and some roots would have helped her. There's one ship 30-odd years before this I'm glad I didn't serve in! Of course, the irony is that McCarthyism was all 'in the past' in 1991, only to resurface as powerful as ever a decade later. I guess "she or someone like her will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish.".